Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn
Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, known in Japan as , is the twelfth movie based on the ''Dragon Ball Z anime. It was originally released in Japan on March 4 1995 between episodes 258 ("Super Moves of Gotenks") and 259 ("Trapped in Forever"). It was again released to select theaters March 17, 2006, making it the first Dragon Ball movie to be released theatrically in the United States, with Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler following. Following that, it had been released March 28th, 2006 in North America on DVD. It was re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 19, 2009 alongside Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon in a double-feature DVD. Summary The movie starts with the Other World Tournament going on and a match is starting between Goku and Pikkon. The scene changes to the Check-In Station and shows a teenage Ogre guarding an evil-purification machine, but he is distracted with his heavy metal music. He accidentally doesn't pay attention and the machine gets too full of evil and breaks, releasing all of the evil energy at once. As a result, on Earth, many of the deads have been brought back to life, and Videl and Gohan are summoned to take care of them. Bulma and the others gather the Dragon Balls, and summon Shenron. They wish for all the souls to return to the underworld, but Shenron informs them that he can send them back but there is nothing stopping them from coming back, and that something is wrong in Other World and only King Yemma can solve the problem. In the Other World, Goku and Pikkon were fighting in the final of the Other World Tournament, but then are called to go to King Yemma and see what is going on. When they arrive, they find that Hell has been changed into a colorful, weird world filled with colorful stones. King Yemma has been imprisoned in a barrier, and the teenager has been mutated by the spiritual waste into a big ugly monster named Janemba. Pikkon attempts to break the barrier, and Goku begins fighting the monster. The monster has strange powers that allow him to defy reality (such as creating a portal to punch through that leads right to Goku), and even as a Super Saiyan 2, Goku is losing. He then powers up to Super Saiyan 3 to defeat the monster. On Earth, Mr. Satan is winning over the zombies. Frieza arrives shortly after Gohan and Videl get rid of a large group of zombies, and Frieza starts to taunt Gohan. However, Gohan defeats him with a single blow to the torso, prompting the rest of the villains to retreat. Gohan, afterwards, does his victory dance (Complete with a trumpet theme in the background). In the afterlife, Pikkon discovers that cursing at the ice causes it to break, and the monster which Goku thought he had defeated has transformed into a smaller, more powerful form. He makes a sword, and starts to easily beat Goku. He traps him in a triangular cage made from Blood Pond, then cuts it down to just fit Goku. Vegeta comes to help Goku. He starts to fight Janemba in his strongest form, Super Saiyan 2, but is no match for him. Goku breaks out of Blood Pond to help, but also is defeated. Both Goku and Vegeta take cover in a cage of spikes. Goku knows they cannot win as separate entities, so he suggests using the fusion technique. Vegeta becomes skeptical, first off that the pose for the Fusion Dance is embarrassing, and furthermore tells him he would rather die than to fuse with a low class Saiyan. But Goku calmly states that Vegeta is already dead. Goku persuades him to agree, and then they try the Fusion Dance. Vegeta, however, fails to extend his forefinger at the last second, and Veku is created, as named by South Kai. This fighter is weak and can do little but fart in Janemba's face. Right when Janemba is about to destroy him, the fusion runs out and Goku and Vegeta escape. Vegeta curses Goku, saying fusion is useless, but North Kai points out that it is Vegeta's fault. Pikkon then comes after giving up on the ice like shield and begins to fight Janemba to give Goku and Vegeta more time to perform the fusion. He figures that Janemba is made of the same material as the shield, and begins cursing at it. Surprisingly, it works, and the creature is caught completely by surprise. However, it is able to incapacitate Pikkon, although those precious few seconds allowed Goku and Vegeta to perform the Fusion Dance, which is successful, forming Gogeta. Back on Earth, Goten and Trunks sense their dads fusing, and also fuse to create Gotenks. Gotenks defeats The Dictator's army with the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack in one shot. Gotenks then says YEAH!!! Fusion rocks!. Gogeta is formed, and he defeats Janemba with his ultimate attack: the Stardust Breaker. As a result, the teenage ogre returns. Scared by Gogeta, he runs away. Hell is returned to normal and King Yemma is freed. Gogeta defuses, Vegeta and Goku say farewell to each other, and Vegeta returns to his spirit form. Goku and Pikkon return to the Grand Kai's planet. All of the souls are returned to the machine, which is restored. On Earth, Gohan, Goten, Videl and Trunks are returning home. Goten and Trunks know who it was that saved them, but refuse to tell anyone. In the English version, Goten and Trunks also joked about Gohan and Videl kissing and being chased home by a crossed Gohan and a embarrassed Videl. Meanwhile, Shenron remains summoned, and asks if anyone still wants to use the wish. Characters Villains *Amond* *Appule** *Bido** *Bio-Men *Bojack *Bujin *Burter *Daiz *The Dictator *Cacao *Cui *Cooler* *Count Drac *Dodoria* or ** *Dr. Wheelo* *Ebifurya* *Frieza *Frieza Soldier** *Ginger *Jeice *Kogu *Lakasei *Living Deads *Lord Slug* *Lord Slug Soldier** *Medamatcha** *Medas *Misokatsun *Nappa* *Nicky** *Paragus *Paragus Soldier** *Raditz* *Rasin *Recoome *Salza** *Sansho *Wings** *Zangya *Zarbon *Commander Zeeun** :* Indicates that this character appears on the film's cover, but is not seen in the film :** Indicates that this character appears in the film, but with a different coloring Continuity Like most movies based on the Dragon Ball series, this movie is difficult to place within the main series' timeline. After Baba brought the dead Goku to Earth for a day, he never seen returning to Grand Kai's planet, instead being at the Sacred World of the Kais helping Gohan with his Z Sword training. After the death of Vegeta, Gohan was thought to be dead (although he was on the Sacred World of the Kais), and Chi-Chi, Bulma, and Videl were either searching for the Dragon Balls to wish back Vegeta's victims or on Kami's Lookout. In addition, Shenron can only grant two wishes at this point, not three and since the wish to revive Vegeta's victims came shortly after he died than there should only be 1 left. When Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan 3, he says he has never been pushed to transform into that form before except during the fight with Majin Buu. This statements to Janemba and the ability of Goten and Trunks to fuse suggests that the Buu Saga happened within this film's background, but Fat Buu is not seen anywhere, and if Kid Buu has been defeated, then both Goku and Vegeta should be alive again. Releases North American DVD features *Full-Screen English "2.0 Stereo" dub with optional subtitles. *Full-Screen English "5.1 Dolby Surround Sound" dub with optional subtitles (same subtitle track as above). *Full-Screen Uncut Japanese version (in Mono) with optional, English translated subtitles. *Interactive DVD Menus. *Scene Selection. *Character Profiles on 12 different characters in the movie. *FUNimation Trailers advertising Dragon Ball Z, the Dragon Ball Z TCG, the "Z" Store, Mr. Stain, and Degrassi. Cast Music *Opening Theme (OP) *# "WE GOTTA POWER" *#* Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama *#** Song Lyrics * Ending Theme (ED) *# "Saikyō no Fyūjon" (The Mightiest Fusion) *#* Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Tetsuji Hayashi, Arrangement: Yūzō Hayashi, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama *#** Song Lyrics Trivia *All swastikas (in the Hitler scenes) are removed from FUNimation's DVD. Additionally, all "third reich" references are removed. In the German, French, and Hebrew versions, The Dictator was completely removed from the movie due to strict laws in Germany about references to the Nazi regime and to avoid insulting Israelis and Holocaust survivors after World War II. In the European Spanish dubs, The Dictator doesn't appear, due to the fact that the European Spanish versions used the pre-edited footage of the French dub. *This is the first movie to have Fusion characters: namely Gotenks, Veku and Gogeta. *This is the first movie to feature Goku in his Super Saiyan 3 form. *This is the first and only story where the Fusion Dance results in successfully defeating the antagonist(s) (The antagonists being The Dictator and Janemba). *The Dictator's battle against Goten and Trunks was removed when it was aired on Toonami. *The English dub of Fusion Reborn is the only Dragon Ball Z film to be rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is rated PG for action violence, thematic elements, and rude humor. *This is the only Dragon Ball Z movie where Krillin does not appear. *Though Broly does not appear in this film, his father Paragus does make a brief appearance. *In one scene, one of the Kai refers to Veku as "what an artful dodger" as he had been avoiding Janemba's attacks by running away and farting. This is a reference to the novel Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. One of the characters is named the Artful Dodger because he can pick peoples pockets and run quickly. *There is a brief Michael Jackson reference in the beginning of the movie, when Saike is dancing he simulates a moonwalk, stands on his tip toes, and grabs himself. *In the English dub by FUNimation, Shenron offers to grant three wishes rather than the regular 2, however in the japanese dub, he says 2, an apparent error. *This is the only film of all 13 to take place mostly in Other World. *During a close up on Recoome, it shows his Ginyu force symbol is shown plain white. *The Dictator mentions how Goten and Trunks in their Super Saiyan forms have "blond hair and blue eyes" (even though the eyes are green) referencing Hitler's penchant for the Ariyan race. *Extra parts to the movie are added in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2's story mode. In the story mode Great Saiyaman and Videl fight 2 vs. 2 battles against Cui and Salza, Bojack and Zangya, Frieza and Cell (who didn't appear in the movie), and finally Vegeta is allowed to keep his body and has a match against Goku. *The movie is retold in the PSP fighting game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai. Its story is arguably easier to place within the series timeline, occurring during a time of apparent peace shortly after the battle with Majin Buu. *This is the only film to feature Pikkon and King Yemma. Gallery See also *List of films External links *Announcement on FUNimationFilms Category:Films Category:Dragon Ball Z films